


You're not selfish for wanting to get treated well

by Lerya



Series: Challenges (outside of discord) [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Harry Potter Deserves Nice Things, Jaskier deserves nice things, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26992234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lerya/pseuds/Lerya
Summary: After the fight with Geralt on the mountain, Jaskier has enough of mysterious people and the trouble they bring with them.So he strives to stay out of their way and enjoys being on the road and singing his songs wherever he likes.Until he meets a different mysterious stranger, who keeps following him around.
Relationships: Jaskier | Dandelion/Harry Potter
Series: Challenges (outside of discord) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970032
Comments: 13
Kudos: 193





	You're not selfish for wanting to get treated well

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Know_It_All_Hermione](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Know_It_All_Hermione/gifts).



> This was written for the Xmas fanfic gift exchange, on a Harry Potter crossover group on Facebook.  
> I know I'm REALLY early, but I enjoyed writing it and wanted to share.
> 
> To Know_It_All_Hermione, I hope you like it :D

Jaskier walked into the nearest tavern, the moment he got off that blasted mountain. Geralt’s words still sounding in his head, again, and again, and again. He knew following that old man onto that mountain, especially when that Witch showed up spelled nothing good for any of them.

They might have been alive at the end of the adventure, with the dwarves on their way to claim their reward, it still let Jaskier stranded alone, without the man he’d been travelling for the better part of a decade, just to get it thrown in his face that since meeting him the Witcher hadn’t had anything but trouble.

That had hurt, he had thought them to be friends, and alright Geralt believes Witchers don’t have feelings, but the White wolf had proven time, and time again that he did have them and acted on them.

He scoffed as he took a seat at the bar, seems like the White wolf discovered anger on that mountain top, choosing to once again push away one of the few people who wanted to travel with him, most likely because he didn’t understand what had happened.

As the barmaid dropped of a pint of ale, he chugged it down, wanted to forget everything that happened these last few days, or even these last few years.

He shook his head, not believing that Geralt after everything takes the easy way out and blames him for everything that had happened when the two of them were together. To be fair, he was sure the Witcher got in enough trouble all on his own without adding Jaskier’s particular brand of chaos in the mix.

Feeling the pint in his hands be exchanged for another one, he chugged that one too, feeling the booze starting to work on his system, dulling the ache he felt after his, at least in his perspective, best friend just up and abandoned him on top of a dragon infested mountain after claiming he, Jaskier, was the reason everything that had happened these last 10 years, had happened.

The next pint, he just held, resting his head on his intwined hands holding it, contemplating if Geralt never saw him as a friend, just as a means to an end, he had after all been the reason every town from north of Nilfguard knew of the adventures of the White Wolf and misconceptions they had about Witchers.

He shook his head again, his ale growing warmer in the packed tavern, not that he noticed that. His eyes staying to a figure sitting close to the bar, but on the other side of the tavern itself. Looking at Jaskier with unnatural green eyes.

He diverted his eyes as he noticed the person kept staring, drinking his ale, and grimacing at the lukewarm feel of it on his tongue. Well, nothing could be done about that now, it was his own fault for waiting to drink it.

Glancing up again, he noticed the mysterious green-eyes stranger was not there anymore, making him heave a sigh of relief. After everything that happened lately, he had enough about strangers that were obviously magical in some way. He hoped to just tour around some more and sing his beloved songs to fill the hearts of men with stories they wouldn’t hear anywhere else.

But not tonight, tonight he would drink some more and use the last bit of cash to rent a room at the local inn, hoping that tomorrow this would all seem like a bad dream, getting him back into his positive and cheery self, without a Witcher or a Sorceress he kept running into.

Waking up on the next day had Jaskier a lot cheerier than he had been the day before. A good night’s rest had done wonders for his mood and he felt like he could take on the world again.

Checking all of his belongings, he left the room and stepped outside, taking in the fresh air before walking north, onwards towards the next town – time to enjoy doing what he loved again; singing and telling stories, especially now that he didn’t have Geralt with him.

After half a day’s travel, he came across the next town, setting himself up at the local inn, he started stemming his lute, he wasn’t even done yet before people recognized him and requests started pouring in for certain songs to be sung – even, to his dismay, the tale of the White wolf.

Which he did, to please his audience, and to get the coin he needed to pay for a room, food, and ale for his stay there. The Inn’s owner at least didn’t mind him stealing his clients, in a way, seeing as word spread that he was preforming, and the Inn filled up quickly, giving the good man his fair share of coin as well.

After he closed off his performance, he took a seat at the bar, getting a warm meal set in front of him by the inn keeper’s wife.

“As a thank you for the extra clients, on the house.”

He nodded at her and dug in, only looking up when he was finished and the stool next to became occupied.

It was the same green-eyes man from yesterday.

He tensed, knowing from experience that people with vivid coloured eyes were often magical, or in some way linked to magic in some way, and after everything that had happened, that he finally pushed past and let himself overcome here was an other one following him, or seemingly following him.

A smile was on the other person’s lips as he took the seat next to him, because of the heavy cloak covering them, he couldn’t see anything else besides the intense green eyes. He couldn’t even tell if this person was a man or a woman.

Gathering his courage, he spoke; “hello, good evening, are you in need of a bard that you have followed me from the last town over?”

The person looked shocked.

“You can see me?”

Jaskier looked around, not noticing anyone else looking at the stranger in the chair next to him.

“I… Yes, I can, I have seen you since last night.”

The person frowned, “that is most odd, most mundane people don’t see me.”

Silence stated for a moment.

“The last ones to see mee were Yennefer of Vangerberg and Geralt of Rivia.”

Jaskier groaned, again, it would seem he wouldn’t be able to get those two out of his life, if even strangers kept bringing them up.

The person looked upon him, a strange look on his face, “I take it you are familiar with them both?”

Jaskier groaned again, but nodded, “I am acquainted with both of them. We didn’t part on good terms last time I saw either of them. Well to be honest I never got along with Yennefer in the first place, but I did get along with Geralt, but he let me know he didn’t get along with me.”

The person hummed, staying quiet. Jaskier, not wanting to keep thinking about either Geralt or Yennefer requested a pint of ale to celebrate a good performance. When he glanced over to the stool next to him the other person wasn’t there anymore. He shrugged his shoulders, maybe he imagined it after all.

He kept meeting the stranger in every town he performed in, every inn he slept in and every tavern he ate in. It was becoming ridiculous especially since the stranger had let him know that first time that he never expected Jaskier to even see him, so he must not be following him on purpose.

So, when the stranger took a seat next to him once again, a slight smile on his lips, he endeavoured to find out more of just who this person was.

Before he could however, the stranger spoke, “Geralt talks about you all the time, Jaskier.”

This had the bard stunned, not expecting that. So, he just scoffed.

“I highly doubt that.”

This had the stranger tilting his head, “why is it, you think that?”

Haskier scoffed again, before ranting about all the adventures he had, had with Geralt. The way he had seen the Witcher as his best friend and looked forward to seeing him again every time they split, seeing as the time they spend together was always very exciting and adventurous.

When he got to them meeting Yennefer and everything that followed after, even Geralt’s Child Surprise, leading to that dreadful day on the mountain top.

The stranger just sat next to him, not saying anything, only opening his mouth when Jaskier had finished telling his tale.

“I see”, the stranger hummed, “that would explain why you are able to see me, even though at first glance you seem quite mundane.”

Jaskier glared, he was everything but mundane, thank you very much, he made an effort to look great wherever he went, which was saying something seeing as he spends a significant time on the road.

The stranger laughed, “I did not mean it like that. You have to understand that both Geralt, as a Witcher, and Yennefer, as a sorceress, are bound by other laws than normal mortals. They live longer, unless they are mortally wounded, and they posses a magic, whether it is natural, learned or embedded into their very being. You however are neither a Witcher, nor a sorcerer, yet you can see me.”

Jaskier hummed, “and why would it be so special to see you, oh stranger.”

“For I am what awaits everyone at the end of the road, who guard over the natural cycle and order in this world, and the next. Mortals know me as Death or the Reaper, I give Hadrian as a name to those who can see me.”

Jaskier paled, after all, it was not every day one came across a mysterious figure who called himself Death. Hadrian, or Death, seeing his pale face took his leave, but Jaskier knew he would see him again, sooner or later.

As expected, Hadrian kept popping up at almost every town or village Jaskier popped up. Sometimes they talked, or they started to after about 3 town and after Jaskier got the man, or was it deity, to tell him he wasn’t here because he, Jaskier, was going to die. He was everywhere and nowhere at once, doing his job as Death.

It took 10 more villages before Hadrian told him that he must be able to see him, in the same way that he hadn’t been aging, because being around Geralt and to a certain extend Yennefer, that a latent gene awakened which gave Jaskier some kind of magic too.

It took half a year, and about 40 stops for Hadrian to tell him about his own life as a human, how he was here since the first cycle, when men developed magic, but hid it, until inevitably it got out to the general population and they were killed for it.

HE told about his own life from a child to an adult, and the sacrifices he made during that lifetime, followed by even more when he noticed he wasn’t aging. This, the world Jaskier and Geralt and Yennefer lived in, was the 20th cycle he lived through and the only one since the first where people had magic and could see him.

This had Jaskier stumped, to know this kind man, for al that he was some kind of deity, had lived this long and even longer without a companion by his side, it saddened him, and gave him new material to use for his songs – it became quite a hit, again, when he sang about a lonely stranger and the (altered) adventures he had, had.

They had parted ways soon after, and it took a while before they met again, but Jaskier had to be honest with himself and admit he looked forward to meeting with Hadrian. The man had not run out of stories to tell, which was a big plus in the bard’s eyes, but he was also incredible kind.

He had seen Hadrian guide someone who had died with a compassion almost no one saw when they were alive, comforting someone who had to leave their partner behind and felt guilty for doing so, was reminded that they would meet again someday.

A little girl who was confused and wanted their mommy was comforted by him, and told that her mommy wasn’t going where they were, but that he would introduce her to her auntie or grandma who’d look after her now, and who would introduce her to other children to play with.

He even saw Hadrian talking to soldiers once on the opposite sides, telling them that there was no more war, they had died for a war that was not theirs to begin with, so let it rest, they had already given their lives for the cause of someone else, were they given up their afterlives as well. The soldiers had shaken their heads and followed him to wherever dead people went, smiles on their faces and arms around each other.

It had made Jaskier realise he had met a one of a kind person, someone who despite everything that had happened to him still saw joy in the simple things in life, who could still look at an other person who was suffering and would do anything in his power to help. Who despite being the reincarnation of Death, brought a warmth and a comfort to people’s eyes, that the stories about Death being cold, heartless and a bitter end, didn’t do the man justice – so he set out to change that.

In the months after that, while still seeing Hadrian here and there, they never actually spoke, although that might be because of the upcoming forces of Nilfguard marching towards the North, and the many people falling to the battles raged in an effort to stop them.

So, when Jaskier was seated at a table, in a tavern way up North, he was startled when a person pulled out a chair and sat next to him. Smiling as he recognized Hadrian, he smiled at the man.

Getting a nod in return, the green-eyed man said, “I had multiple people telling me I looked and acted just as the Bard’s songs described? Even thanking me for the safe passage I grand them to the afterlife. I am guessing this is your doing?”

Jaskier nodded, “I found that the storied from before, depicting Death, were cold, heartless and lacked empathy and warmth, which is the complete opposite of what you are.

In my long life, as you have told me, I have learned that my songs can tell a very different side to a story that has been told before. So, I used that in easing people’s fear of Death, seeing as most cannot outrun it.”

Hadrian nodded, “most can’t except when there is magic involved.”

Jaskier smiled, “which is not that usual here, as again, you have said before.”

The Bard bit his lip before continuing, “you sounded to very lonely when you told of your past and the fact that not a lot of people see you, except when they die and this was often not a good thing. You are a very kind man, Hadrian, even if the job you have in this world is an unkind one. You deserve this, this good image, this… these tales about the other side of Death, that can’t be told normally, seeing as people who met that side of you are often dead.

You are not selfish for wanting to get treated well, even after all these years, because of the job the universe gave you. You deserve more than that.”

A soft smile appeared on the deity’s face, his eyes glittering as tears appeared but didn’t fall.

“I think Jaskier, that the reason you see mee, and the reason you awakened a dormant magic in yourself, was indeed partly because of your meetings with Geralt and Yennefer.

But it was also so I could find a companion who’d see the real mee after all these years, and all these lifetimes. Someone to help me with people’s inherited fear of dead and the afterlife, without being someone who took that journey with me, so they could tell it to people here, living their life.”

It was that conversation that started them travelling together, or at least for long periods of time. Hadrian still had duties in the afterlife as well, so he had to leave his Bard for periods of time.

During one of the first absences of Hadrian, Jaskier had met up with Geralt again, this time the Witcher was accompanied by his child-surprise. Having had time to heal from their last conversation, Jaskier had explained to Geralt just what he did and how it had hurt him.

The Witcher, having had time as well, apologised for the words he said. Jaskier had accepted that but had told him that he couldn’t travel with them, seeing as he had another companion right now. At Geralt’s questionable look, Jaskier wanted to explain, but was interrupted by a smooth voice.

“I am back again, love. Ah, hello, Geralt, Princess Cirilla.”

Geralt had nodded politely at Hadrian, before turning to Ciri and explaining who the new person was.

As the Witcher explained all this to his adopted daughter, Jaskier took the time to hug his lover and place a kiss on his lips. Smiling at the shy smile lighting up the other man’s face. While he was glad things had been settled between him and Geralt, he had much more to look forward to while traveling with Hadrian, and the, no doubt numerous adventures, they would have while together.


End file.
